


The Passing Storm

by Sokudoningyou



Category: Dresden Files - Butcher
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-06-06
Updated: 2007-06-06
Packaged: 2017-10-06 05:39:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/50252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sokudoningyou/pseuds/Sokudoningyou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry reflects on what his life has been like without the magic as he watches a particular storm that may or may not be the storm from Storm Front.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Passing Storm

##### 

As I watched the lightning play over the city, I wondered how the power of the storm would feel, if one were to summon it. It was a dark and dangerous game, such roughshod play with the elements, and I had been told in words and deeds just how closely addictive it could ultimately become.

But it didn’t matter to me anymore, or so I told myself. The magic was no longer in my heart; I had forsworn that secret years ago, after I had been spared a death sentence. Old Ebenezer had tried to teach me, wooing me away from the Dark Side, but I didn’t want it. I had seen magic kill. I had seen it destroy.

And damn it, I wanted to be able to see Star Wars whenever I felt the urge.

I lived on the farm in an imitation of Westward Ho!: no electricity, no entertainment save that which I made for myself, an old pickup truck for driving lessons, and a talking skull who spoke less as the years wore on. Couldn’t blame him. He thought I was a boring sap, turning away from magic and long life to live like a common old human. As I tossed hay bales and pulled weeds, he sat on my bookshelf and propped up my paperbacks. Whenever I managed to go on a date, he mocked me for my lack of sexual prowess, only to hoot like a lunatic once he realized I hadn’t gotten past second base since Elaine.

The last thing he said to me was, “Leave me here, kid. The life you’ve chosen has nothing to do with me. Thanks for pulling me out of the wreck, though.” And just like that, his eyes winked out. I don’t think he’s spoken to Ebenezer yet; he didn’t seem to like him. Said he was more boring than waiting for the Crusades to end.

Do I miss him? In a way. He was a strange character, Bob; just a spirit inhabiting a skull, with a smart ass attitude and no moral compass. Ebenezer himself I had no trouble leaving, not with his obvious disappointment hanging over my head. When I told him I wanted to leave the farm and go to Chicago – which sounded exotic and wild to a guy that had grown up shuttled between suburbia and foster care – he seemed to shut down and close up. As if that had been the final blow, instead of all of my previous stubbornness. He just asked me where I wanted to be dropped off and said, “Take care” before driving away and out of my life.

Chicago’s been pretty great for me. I own my own video rental shop now, a mix of old tapes and new DVD, along with a section of music to buy on LP, tape, and CD. My employee Georgia just quit to get married, though it was an old joke now between me and her fiancé as to why she’d even worked for me to begin with: her parents were loaded. And though she was a rich bitch, she was still a great worker, even if she was the only girl I ever knew to flawlessly call in with “bad cramps” every full moon. Very prehistoric and sexy, if you’re into that.

My store does a good business, and I always watch Star Wars every chance I get. I have cable television, air conditioning, and a newer model Volkswagon Beetle. Living in the twenty-first century with all its perks is a routine pleasure I would definitely miss, if I couldn’t have it.

But the magic…

One can never watch a storm without wondering what could have been.

**Fin.**

**Author's Note:**

> Written fairly quickly. I meant to sneak Thomas in somehow, but didn't. The story is so short it just wouldn't have seemed right to extend it.


End file.
